The Crim Files
by GoddessofSnark
Summary: A series of essays written about Rocky Horror.......great for late night reading!
1. Nevermore

A/N this is not, I reapeat NOT a fic! This is an ESSAY! An ESSAY! Yes, one of those boring things that you are assigned to write in class! Well, anyways, it's going to be a series of essays, various thought-provoking things, that I wrote in fits of boredom. The one below, and the next one started out as what was to be addendums to my fics "Will You Go On" and "The Many Faces Of Riff." Well, it's spawned off into two separate essays. They're's going to be more and more and more, so as you stay up later and later and later, you have something else to put you to sleep!  
  
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Riff Raff and Edgar Allen Poe share quite a few similarities. Some people have argued that the character of Riff was directly based on Poe. Others argue that it's just coincidence. Personally, I think it's both.  
  
Riff does seem to mimic Poe on more than one occasion. Starting off with the topic of romance. They both "keep it in the family." Poe married his cousin, Virginia, whom he thought of as a sister, and Riff is in love with his sister Magenta.  
  
They also are both geniuses, in their own rights. After all, it was Riff himself who created Rocky, not Frank. This is shown in the stage production where Riff has the line "My-Your creation" And Poe, Poe is remembered by his great contributions to literature.  
  
They also were both completely insane. Riff shows this more than Poe (check out what's to be a later chap. Of the Crim files for my essay on that) but they were both psychopathic. Poe showed this mostly through his works, while Riff went right out and proved to everyone that he was insane, when he goes and kills Frank, Rocky and Columbia. He shows it again, if you decide to count Revenge of The Old Queen, with how he killed Magenta.  
  
There are also quite a few Riff-ish qualities in Richard O'Brien's portrayal of Vladimire Hellsibus in Elvira's Haunted Hills. Which could lead some people to believe that Richard has a liking to Poe, thus making it entirely possible for Riff to be based on Poe. If anything, I say that since Rocky Horror was spoofing the science fiction and horror films of the 50's, that it's entirely possible that the similarities were put in there as a reference to Vincent Price and his works. So, as of yet, the "Richard O'Brien fascination with Poe and based Riff on Poe intentionally" theory has yet to be proven.  
  
So is Riff a descendant of Poe? Was it done intentionally? I say slightly. Poe was the father of Science Fiction, and without him, there would be no Rocky Horror, so I say that some of the qualities exhibited in both were a shout out to Poe. But, I say that Riff and Poe being alike is just a coincidence that made for an interesting story. 


	2. RiffPsycho?

A/N This is another ESSAY concerning Riff and mental illness.my worst essay, I wrote this at 1 o'clock, so don't mind it, just something interesting and slightly thought provoking.  
  
Riff Raff, crazy insane or insane crazy? Well, there's no doubt that he's just a little out there. Well, this is my chance to pick him apart, and try and figure out what made him work the way he did.  
  
What I thought about Riff and mental illness was I figured bi-polar (manic depression) disorder. Now, this came two minutes after reading an article about in Time magazine, and I thought it would make for an interesting story concept. Well, the more I wrote it, the more I realized just how true what I was writing was.  
  
Riff shows some of the symptoms of many different mental illnesses, not just bipolar. It seems that, just from a topical diagnosis (ok, I'm going to cut the fancy language as of NOW) that he's got schizophrenia, paranoia, and a mind that could have taken one too many time WARPS.  
  
Another plausible explanation for why Riff behaves the way he does in the movie could be because of a drug habit. Near the end, when Riff really goes psycho, it seems almost as if he was suffering withdrawal, and that he could have plotted the whole scheme while he was high. After all, Frank seems like a druggie, why shouldn't Riff? After all, just from looks alone Riff looks like a junkie. Maybe one of those deliveries that Eddie brought contained one of Eddie's favorite things.  
  
Another point that backs up how psycho Riff is, is if you read the script of Revenge of The Old Queen. The version that I have, the one written by Jason Alan "P7A77" Pfaff (can be found at www.angelfire.com/movies/RevengeOldQueen/rotoq.html) has a quote "It should be noted at this juncture, that RIFF is more than a little loopy" well, it certainly fits.  
  
After all, in ROTOQ, Riff kills his sister, and then goes on and on about how he misses her. Not exactly someone completely sane would do. And what sane person keeps there sister, and lover, dead, in a coffin in their bedroom? No one in know, I can tell you that much.  
  
So is Riff crazy? A fact that remains to be proven, a question that can only be answered by Ritz himself, if even Ritz knows it. So in my opinion, Riff could stand to see a psychiatrist, maybe some Prozac might come in handy. Or maybe he should call up the Ohio quitline and see what they can do for him. But he proved to be an interesting thing to look at and study. 


End file.
